A Cinderella Story
A Cinderella Story is a 2004 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Mark Rosman & written by Leigh Dunlap. The film was released on July 16, 2004 by Warner Bros. Pictures and spawned three direct-to-video sequels: "Another Cinderella Story" (in 2008), "A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song" (in 2011) and "A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits" (in 2016). Plot Samantha "Sam" Montgomery lives in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, with her widowed father Hal, who runs a popular sports-themed diner. Hal marries a woman named Fiona, who has two daughters: Brianna and Gabriella. During the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Hal is killed when he runs to save Brianna. Because Hal didn't leave a will, Fiona receives all of his belongings, including the house, the diner and Sam. Eight years later, Sam works as a waitress at the diner to save money to attend Princeton University, but she is regularly tormented by her stepmother and stepsisters. She also struggles with fitting in at her high school where popular cheerleader Shelby Cummings and the other popular kids make fun of her as well. Sam confides in her online pen pal "Nomad" about her dream to attend Princeton, a dream which he also shares. What she doesn't know is that Nomad's true identity is Austin Ames, the popular quarterback of the school's football team and Shelby's ex-boyfriend, although she refuses to accept that he has broken up with her. Austin is unhappy because Austin's father planned for him to go to the University of Southern California with a football scholarship rather than going to Princeton. Nomad proposes that they meet in person at the school's Halloween-themed homecoming dance. On the night of the dance, Fiona orders Sam to work the night shift at the diner and then leaves to drive her stepsisters to the dance, but Sam's best friend, Carter convinces her to go to the dance. Sam's friend and fellow waitress, Rhonda & the rest of the diner staff also convince Sam to disobey Fiona and go to the dance anyway. Sam (wearing a mask and a beautiful white dress) meets Nomad at the dance, and is surprised to learn that he is Austin, who had become smitten with her upon her entrance. They decide to leave the party to walk alone and get to know each other a little better. While sharing a romantic dance, Sam and Austin begin to fall in love with each other. But just as Austin is about to unmask her, Sam's cell phone alarm goes off, warning her to return to the diner before Fiona returns at midnight. Sam leaves the dance without revealing her identity to Austin, and she drops her phone on the way out. Austin picks up her phone and begins a desperate search to figure out who his "Cinderella" really is, but every girl at school claims to be the mysterious owner of the phone. Sam is reluctant to reveal her identity to Austin, feeling that he will not accept her due to her being ordinary and Austin being popular. When Austin comes into the diner one day, Sam is forced to help him and after a talk, she tries to reveal her identity to him, but gets cut off by Fiona. Brianna and Gabriella end up discovering Sam and Austin's email relationship and (after having failed to convince Austin that one of them is the owner of the phone) convince Shelby that Sam tried to steal Austin from her. During a pep rally, the sisters and the other cheerleaders humiliate Sam in front of the entire school and expose her identity, as well as naming her an impostor. Hurt by Sam's secrecy, Austin doesn't defend her and Sam leaves the pep rally in tears. Like Austin, Sam had been accepted at Princeton, only to be tricked by Fiona into believing that she was rejected by having a fake rejection letter made to keep Sam working at the diner and as her servant. Sam decides to give up on her dreams and resigns herself to working at the diner, but Rhonda gives Sam a pep talk, telling her not to lose hope. When her stepsisters come into the diner, they slam the door, causing a guitar to fall off the wall, tearing the wallpaper down with it and blame it on Sam. Sam then sees her father's words, "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game" on the wall and regains her confidence. Sam stands up to Fiona and her stepsisters stating that she will no longer put up with their emotional abuse, quits her job at the diner and moves in with Rhonda, who also quits along with the entire diner staff. The customers, who witness the entire scene, promptly leave in disgust as well. Before the school's homecoming football game, Sam confronts Austin about his cowardice and not defending her at the pep rally. Before the final play of the game, Austin sees Sam making her way out of the stands and he finally stands up to his father, saying he wants to attend Princeton rather than simply play football all his life. Austin chases after Sam and apologizes. She accepts his apology and they share their first kiss as rain falls over the drought-plagued valley. Soon after, Sam discovers Hal's will hidden in her childhood fairy-tale book, stating that all of his money and possessions actually belong to her. Since this makes her the rightful and legal owner, Sam sells her stepfamily's fancy cars so that she can pay for college. Fiona (who signed the will as a witness but she claims to have never seen it before) is arrested for financial fraud and violating California's child labor laws for all the times she made Sam work long hours at the diner in spite of her being a minor. In the end, things start to get better. Sam learns that she was accepted to Princeton after all. Fiona, Brianna and Gabriella are forced to work at the diner to pay off the money they took under the supervision of Rhonda. Austin's father finally accepts his son's decision to go to Princeton. Meanwhile, Carter becomes popular after starring in an acne commercial and although Shelby pursues him (despite rejecting him for being an outcast), he turns her down for the school DJ, Astrid. The film ends with Sam and Austin (who are now officially a couple) driving off to Princeton together. Cast *Hilary Duff as Samantha "Sam" Montgomery **Hannah Robinson as Young Sam *Chad Michael Murray as Austin Ames *Jennifer Coolidge as Fiona *Regina King as Rhonda *Dan Byrd as Carter Ferrell *Madeline Zima as Brianna **Carlie Westerman as Young Brianna *Andrea Avery as Gabriella **Lilli Babb as Young Gabriella *Julie Gonzalo as Shelby Cummings *Brad Bufanda as David *Simon Helberg as Terry *J. D. Pardo as Ryan Hanson *Aimee Lynn Chadwick as Astrid *Erica Hubbard as Madison *Kady Cole as Caitlyn *Mary Pat Gleason as Eleanor *Paul Rodriguez as Bobby *Lin Shaye as Mrs. Wells *Whip Hubley as Harold "Hal" Montgomery *Kevin Kilner as Andy Ames *James Eckhouse as Mr. Farrell Production Filming for "A Cinderella Story" began on June 30, 2003. Production designer Charles William Breen built the interior of the diner and Sam's attic bedroom on stage at Warner Bros. Hilary Duff accepted the lead role of Sam in the film because "Cinderella" was her favorite fairy tale when she was growing up. She drove herself between filming locations during the principal photography for the film in order to prepare for her driving test. Box Office "A Cinderella Story" opened at #4 at the box office, grossing $13,623,350 during its opening weekend. Domestically, it grossed $51,438,175 and $70,067,909 worldwide. Reception On Rotten Tomatoes, "A Cinderella Story" has an approval rating of 11% based on 103 reviews, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "An uninspired, generic updating of the classic fairy tale." On Metacritic, it has a score on 25 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale Roger Ebert called it "a lame, stupid movie." Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote in her review of the film: "When not unnecessarily bland, synthetic, and indistinguishable from undistinguished teen TV, A Cinderella Story is unnecessarily coarse and dumbed down, with every character except Sam and Austin subject to perfunctory ridicule." The Village Voice said that it "lacks the guiltily pleasurable panache (and punch) of other recent chickadee flicks posited as protofeminist fairy tales." The Chicago Tribune critiqued Hilary Duff's acting, saying: "Of all the teen performers out there, Duff has to be the blandest (especially since the Olsens hit the skids)." Category:Films Category:2000s films Category:Romance films Category:Comedy films Category:Warner Bros. films Category:American films Category:PG-rated films Category:Teen films